Exploring sustainable solutions and shaping the future

Rapid analysis of changing environmental conditions using satellite imagery; study area west coast of South Sulawesi

Rapid analysis of changing environment in Mandai and Maros. Left imagery is for year 2000, and right imagery is for year 2012

PROBLEMS

On the image above is clearly seen the changed in land use have an impact on the coastal environment, mangrove, and coral reef:

1. Rapidly growing industrial area in 12 years (2000-2012) period
2. Large-scale residential and agricultural development (Mandai and Maros) has replaced the buffer zone of the river and caused heavy sedimentation in downstream areas
3. Coral reef death (coral bleaching) and being endangered entirely, due to the silting process, development along the coastline, and the increasing of sea surface temperature (SST).

From the map below, shown that the closer to the coastline, the higher threat of damage to coral reef.

To verify my statements above, then you can do further research by collecting some of the following data:
1. Extent and type of land use change from 2000 to 2012
2. Average daily to monthly rainfall within 12 years
3. The amount of sediment transported from upperstream to downstream (daily-weekly-monthly), adjusted with the acquisition date of satellite imageries
4. Field Survey and the current condition of coral reef, needed further processing of satellite imagery for coral reef ecosystem analysis, you could use a set of methods; image corrections, included noise-reduction correction, atmospheric/radiometric correction, and images normalization. All images can then be classified with a some classifier technique (ex: Mahalanobis) and using statistics from the 2000 image to identify the three or four benthic classes. For SST, you can using MODIS images of the study area
5. Population growth since year 2000-2012

SOLUTIONS

Proper sustainable-planning and strict-implementation of coastal development is highly necessary to reducing impacts on coastal environments, for examples:
1. Expanding buffer regions of coastal environments with strict-policy, and strict-law enforcement
2. Public participation in order to improve local monitoring and local management supported by local and national government
3. Sustainable geo-tourism, for effective conservation with national and international tourists and also to increasing local income from coastal environment